Ashkan Dejagah

There is a young man who plays his football for Herta Berlin. His name is Ashkan Dejagah, he is 19 years old, and he is a promising talent.

Branko Ivankovic, Iran’s Croatian coach, wanted to try him out in a friendly game over a year ago, but there was an unexpected outcry amongst the usually sensationalist Iranian sports papers. The noise level was so high that IRIFF vetoed the coach’s decision and Dejagah was never called.

Since then, he has been called into German U-19 and U-20. He has done well and Team Melli could surely use him. But unfortunately as things go in the world of Iranian football, this is not likely to happen in this World Cup.